Article about Foran(Sterlo) and Manlys proud record

I was just reading a foxsports article about Foran not being the next Peter Sterling, and it mentions some facts about one of our traditional rivals, and compares Parras record with Manlys. It makes very interesting reading and confirms something that I always remind some of my Parra friends, that they have a bit of a reputation they don’t deserve.

Heres the bit I liked..."Dig a little and the fault belongs to us wretches in the media. The search for the new Sterling is our creation, imagined and propagated by much of the influential media working around the time Sterling and Parramatta dominated the game.
They are reliving their own glory days.It’s evident in the belief Parramatta are one of the great powerhouse of the NRL, one of the great myths in the game.
The Eels go into their 70th season this year with such a reputation.
Yet it will be 30 years since their last premiership. From 68 seasons they have made the finals just 26 times. Aside from the golden era of 1976-86 where they made six grand finals and won four premierships — with basically the same core group of players — the Eels have been remarkably mediocre, with just two other grand final appearances and no premierships.
That era, of course, featured Sterling heavily so you understand the yearning to find a new one.
Compare this against the continued success of Manly (premiers in 1972-73, 76, 78, 87, 96, 08, 11)

My thoughts in addition, to make it great to be a Manly fan, when you look at our proud record, we have been on average about almost 3 grand final appearances every 10 years from the 50s, we didnt win all of course, but still an achievement to make the grand final. Amazing to think that we have appeared in almost a third of all grand finals in each decade (50s x3 60s x1 70s x5(wont count replay) 80s x3 90s x3 00s x2 and so far this decade x2, and no spoons of course

Realistically there is no comparison. One has been successful almost from the start, the other has been mediocre other than that 10 year period from 1976-1986.

If Speels fans think they are going to be contenders this year with the pack of forwards they have.....Papua New Guinea have about as much chance of winning next years World Cup as the Speels have of winning the premiership this year. Buckley's and none.

Their pack is why I can't understand talk of them making the top 8. Seriously, the media and their fans seem to have been so blinded by their backline spending spree that they've forgotten about their lack of quality forwards.

I'm not saying their forwards are hopeless, but how many would be playing first grade at clubs like ours, the Donkeys, Cows, Souffs etc? Peats maybe, but that's about it. Mannah is over the hill, no one would want Watmough any more, and the rest would be fringe players at best at those clubs.

it just shows why so many people hate Manly. Manly are a successful club. The Eels on the other hand, are a club that wants to emulate Manly and they have now resorted to buying Manly players, coach and staff in an effort to get some success. Interesting to see how they will perform this season but I expect they will be further down the ladder than Manly.

One point that is significantly missed is that because of the League's inequitable distribution of junior clubs, something they've been reminded of for decades but have ignored, a team like Parramatta has about 3 times the juniors Manly has access to.

The league could long ago had redressed this issue (same applies to Sydney City) but they've ignored it, leading to unfair abuse from other clubs because Manly have had to grab players elsewhere. And yet Parramatta, with such amazing resources has had to plunder Manly. And they say Manly has management problems. Go figure.